


swimming (I always have been)

by AstraBabe



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Family, Ficlet, Gen, Light Angst, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Siblings, Swimming, kya-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29360991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstraBabe/pseuds/AstraBabe
Summary: She looked back, her head bobbing above the waves.Her mother was shrunken by the distance, standing on the shore.She held out her arms.Kya returned to her.ORA month after Aang had passed, Kya is thinking of her mother when she remembers her first time swimming.
Relationships: Aang & Kya II (Avatar), Katara & Kya II (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	swimming (I always have been)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta, BisexualDisasterVibes!
> 
> Inspired by [Swimming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Zl4hyIgB4) by Kero Kero Bonito.
> 
>   
>  **_Swimming  
>  Across the sea  
> I get the feeling  
> I always have been_**

Her first memory.

Warm sand under her feet, sticking to her toes.

She was on the beach on the island. The sun was high and yellow. And there was this smell. The smell of plum blossoms. It wafted from the groves and off the ocean’s breeze.

Her mother was there.

Her mother took her by the hand and led her towards the water. Her hand was so big.

The water was warm, lapping over her feet. The dry grit of sand was made soft beneath it. The fizzle of seafoam felt funny on her ankles.

The further she followed her mother, the smaller Kya became until the water was up to her shoulders. She looked to her mom. She could not make out her face.

There was only a moment between being rooted to the sand, scared to walk further, and the next tide. When it rolled in, the water flowed past her and picked up her little body, feet lifting from the sand. Then, weightlessness.

Her mother held both her hands.

Then, she let go.

Without a second thought, Kya swam away. Her tiny arms and legs fought the waves, kicking and pushing the water, but she was not scared anymore. The water felt familiar. It moved warm and alive against her. She wanted to swim forever.

She looked back, her head bobbing above the waves.

Her mother was shrunken by the distance, standing on the shore.

She held out her arms.

Kya returned to her.

For some reason, this memory, a memory Kya didn’t even know she had, came back to her. It came back to her, standing against the cliffs at the edge of the same beach, the same scent of plum blossoms rolled off the waves and carried it to her. It was summer again, but the sun was low and orange. Her father had died.

Kya found out while she was traveling. She left immediately.

There was returning to Air Temple Island, consoling Tenzin, commiserating with Bumi, helping with the kids, helping with the cooking, comforting her mother, entertaining family, organizing the funeral. The funeral was a public event. She had to speak. Deal with press. Deal with the public. She had to say goodbye to her father. There was no time to grieve.

A month after her fathers death, and her mother would be returning home soon. Katara wasn’t quite right. Kya got the feeling she never would be again. Kya brought it up to Tenzin, to Bumi but nothing had come of it. She couldn’t send her back to the South alone.

Now, she was alone on her childhood beach, remembering her first time swimming. No, it couldn’t have been the first time. Katara said she had her in the water by the time she was three months old and would hold her to her chest in the pool. At two-and-a-half, she was jumping into the water on her own and attempting to push herself out of the pool on her chubby arms. But Kya couldn’t remember that.

She looked at the waves.

Before she could realize what she was doing, she approached the water. She stripped off her dress, her boots, and she was down to her bindings, striding into the ocean on her own this time.

Kya walked out to where she couldn’t stand and closed her eyes, letting that familiar pull sweep her up. It’s a second of sinking before the water rushes under her, raising her up, and she’s floating, floating in the trough of a wave like she was tucked in the palm of a hand.

Weightless.

Free.

She’s been in love with the feeling her whole life.

With a powerful breaststroke, she pushed forward. She set her eyes on the horizon, an expanse of fiery sky and blue water, and swam. She was older now, stronger, and the waves parted for her.

Kya didn’t know when she started crying, only that the ocean quietly accepted the salt from her eyes into the wash. The water brushed over her cheeks the way her mother used to thumb tears from face.

She stopped.

Treading, Kya looked to the horizon. It didn’t seem to get any closer. She looked to the beach. It was a distant white line against the brown cliffs. She had made it farther, much farther, than she had made it in her memory, but her mother wasn’t waiting for her on the shore this time.

She abandoned the horizon and swam back.

Kya would go to her again.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a comment! ^_^
> 
> If you'd like to see some more Kya-centric fic, let me know!


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